Bowes Eclectic
At the end of 2025 I visited Bowes Museum when I was down in County Durham, this was a much needed tonic, I hadn’t been since 2013. I only had a morning there but managed to see a lot, above the featured image is of a Palissy ware dish. Image below of Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse from my previous visit, alas they are currently being rested from display.
The quality of light in the museum was amazing, the Palissy dish was in a case very low to the ground and was beautifully illuminated by the sun, as was the little deer below. Clara the Rhinoceros which is situated beside the silver swan (synonymous with Bowes) was in a case which noticeably had the lights switched off – this was intentional as they are fund raising for improved lighting. The marble carving of Clara is said to be ‘Probably by Augustin-Bernard-Francois Portois (1753-1826)’.
The collection of ceramics in the museum is awe-inspiring, I’m not a great fan of fine china and prefer more characterful rustic stuff such as this boar’s head tureen from c.1770.
Pet Project is a contemporary exhibition and I particularly enjoyed the involvement of the local community in it, they were invited to share their ‘ceramic pets and the unique stories they wanted to tell’ these artworks are shown alongside the museum’s collection.
